Slingshot with pellet magazine

ABSTRACT

A slingshot embodying a novelly constructed stock and a threepart sling. The stock embodies a magazine-type handgrip having a storing chamber for a supply of ready-to-use BB&#39;&#39;s or pellets, birdshot for example. The stock also has arms with bores. The forward ends of stretchable elastic tubes are anchored in their respective bores. The rearward ends of these tubes are connected by a pliant leather or an equivalent strap or saddle which is equipped with Velcro-type male and female tapes which function in a manner to provide a nesting and holding pouch for the pellets.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Audie Lee Allison 606 26th St., Snyder, Tex. 79549 [21] Appl. No. 806,147 [22] Filed Mar. 11, 1969 [45] Patented Nov. 9, 1971 [54] SLINGSHOT WITH PELLET MAGAZINE 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 124/20, 124/49, 124/30 R, 1 24/41 [51] lnt.Cl F4lb 7/00 [50] Field 01 Search 124/20, 35, 17,49, 21, 2, 41; 128/DIG. 115; 221/89 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,487,973 3/1924 Preston 124/45 X 2,661,731 12/1953 Casey 124/20 2,672,857 3/1954 Gauthier 124/20 3,086,529 4/1963 Munz et a1..... l28/DIG. 115 3,494,346 2/1970 Yount et a1 124/20 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant ExaminerWilliam R. Browne Attorneys-Clarence A. O'Brien and Harvey B. Jacobson ABSTRACT: A slingshot embodying a novelly constructed stock and a three-part sling. The stock embodies a magazinetype handgrip having a storing chamber for a supply of readyto-use BBs or pellets, birdshot for example. The stock also has arms with bores. The forward ends of stretchable elastic tubes are anchored in their respective bores. The rearward ends of these tubes are connected by a pliant leather or an equivalent strap or saddle which is equipped with Velcro-type male and female tapes which function in a manner to provide a nesting and holding pouch for the pellets,

PATENTEU uuv 91971 IN V/zN'lY/K. m

') Attorneys Audie Lee All/son emmwmifi 2 SLINGSIIOT WITI-I PELLE'I MAGAZINE This invention relates to a slingshot which, as will be hereinafter set forth, is characterized by uniquely constructed and aptly suitable stock, and a complemental sling which, in conjunction with the stock, provides a slingshot which lends itself to practical use for bird shooting and for siniilar hunting purposes.

More particularly, one improvement has to do with a onepiece wooden or an equivalent stock which is characterized by a hollow handgrip wherein the hollow portion provides a storing chamber or magazine for a reserve supply of ready-to-use pellets. This chamber can be filled by way of a turn button type closure or equivalent closure means. If desired the upper end of the chamber is provided on one side with a pellet discharge passage which is normally closed by a screw-in plug or the like.

An equally significant improvement has to do with a threepart sling, that is, a sling which is made up of two elongated elastic stretchable tubes and a leather or an equivalent saddlelike strap which links the rearward ends of the tubes together and is expressly constructed to provide a fingergrippable pellet nesting, releasing, and projecting pouch.

Briefly, the herein disclosed slingshot is characterized by two component parts or units; namely, the aforementioned sturdy one-piece stock and the complemental replaceable three-part sling. The stock embodies a straight noncircular handgrip which has a bore defining a magazine or chamber in which bird shot, BBs or ball-type pellets, are accessibly stored. Suitable closure means at the bottom of the chamber assists in filling and closing the chamber. The upper closed end of the chamber has a communicating side port for easy discharge of BBs, said port closed by an insertable and removable closing plug. The upper end of the handgrip is provided with a substantially U-shaped fork whose prongs or arms have axial open-ended bores. The sling embodies a pair of elongated elastic tubes having forward ends which are removably anchored in their respectively cooperable bores. The rearward ends of the tubes are detachably connected with apertured free ends of the companion half-portions of a flexible leather or an equivalent pellet pocketing pouch. This pouch is unique in that the opposed interior surfaces to the left and right, respectively, of the median fold or crease of the half-portions are provided with properly paired male and female Velcro" tapes which, when pinched together, serve to gather and pocket the 88's (or other pellet-type projectiles) for aiming and shooting. When the tensioned sling is released the pocket opens and the 33's are directed in a scattering trajectory toward the target.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a slingshot constructed in accordance with the present invention and with portions of the elastic tubes of the sling broken away and appearing in section.

FIG. 2 is a view in section and elevation taken approximately on the plane of the section line 2-2 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the indicating arrows.

FIG. 3 is a detail elevational view of that part of the sling herein described as the leather or equivalent strap and showing the same spread flatwise to bring out the properly oriented upper and lower pairs of permanently attached Velcro tapes.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing the halfportions of the strap separably fastened together by the aforementioned Velcro tapes and illustrating how the folded strap is transformed to provide the pellet-holding pouch.

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view with portions of the sling omitted and which serves to show the closer means at the openable and closable bottom of the storing magazine.

And FIG. 6 is a view in perspective of the turn button type closure shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 in particular.

Referring first to FIG. 1 it will be noted that the numeral 8 designates the one-piece stock and that the numeral 10 designates, generally speaking, the attached ready-to-use sling.

The stock can be made from wood, plastic materials or such other materials as have been heretofore used in constructing the forked handling means for slingshots. The rigid noncircular handle or handgrip is denoted by the numeral 12 and has a lower end 14 and an upper end portion 16. The upper end portion embodies an integral complemental U-shaped fork. This fork embodies a pair of duplicate prongs or arms 18 and a bight portion more specifically set forth here as a crotch 20. Referring now to FIG. 2 it will be seen that the handgrip is axially bored and that the resultant bore 22 provides a chamber or magazine in which the projectiles 24 are stored. The upper end of the chamber is closed at 26 and the lower end portion is partly open as at 28. The lower end portion has a built-in adapter or lug 30 carrying a headed bolt 32 on which a turn button type closure 34 (FIG. 6) is rotatably mounted. This closure has a bolthole 36 therethrough and has a segmental head 38 which coacts with a chamfered or beveled surface 40 on the button portion 42 which can be registered or lined up with the restricted opening 28. In other words, this closure can be closed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. By catching hold of it and turning it around the pivot point the beveled surface 40 comes into play and uncovers the opening to facilitate filling the chamber with pellets. The term pellets" is used here broadly to comprehend any suitable bird shot or projectiles such as are commonly referred to in the trade as BBs. It is within the purview of the invention to provide one side of the handgrip with an oblique angled side passage 44 which communicates with the chamber 22 and can be used for discharging the pellets, that is by emptying the same into the hand of the user. A suitable insertable and removable closing plug 46 is provided to normally maintain the pellets in a captive state. With respect now to the arms or prongs 18 it will be noted that each is provided with an open-ended bore or passage 48 which serves in a manner to be later described.

With respect now to the sling 10 it is made up primarily of three component parts; namely, a pair of like pressure-responsive elastically stretchable rubber or equivalent tubes, said tubes denoted by the numeral 50. The forward end portions 52 of the tubes (FIG. 2) are passed or threaded through the bores or passages 48 and are anchored removably in place. Means other than that shown may be employed for anchoring the tube ends. Here the anchoring means in each instance comprises an expanding-type fastener, sometimes referred to as an expansible bolt and comprising a screw-threaded bolt 54 having a head 56 at one end and screwed into the nutequipped (not detailed) end portion of a slitted sleeve 57. By inserting the sleeve and tightening the bolt the deformable portions 58 of the sleeve expand and serve to bind the rubber in the bore 48 as brought out in FIG. 2.

Referring again to the sling 10 it will be evident that the aforementioned leather or equivalent flexible strap 60 is of elongated rectangular form and it is adapted to be bent or creased upon itself midway between its ends as denoted at 62 whereby to thus provide a pair of opposed duplicate half-portions 64. The free ends of the half-portions are provided with openings 66 through which bent end portions 68 of the tubes are threaded and secured in place by wrappings 70. The free ends of the tubes are denoted at 72 in FIG. 1.

This saddle-like strap forms a pinching, holding and aiming pouch for the batch of pellets in the manner shown in FIG. 4. To achieve the result desired pressure responsive fastening means is employed. More specifically Velcro fasteners are employed as shown in FIG. 3. As here shown, upper and lower pairs of tapes are superimposed on the interior surfaces in opposed relationship and on opposite sides of the fold or crease 62. One tape is denoted at 74 and the other one at 76. the tape 74 having a multiplicity of loops 78 to accommodate the hooks 80 on the tape 76. By squeezing the tapes together as shown in FIG. 4 the desired pocketing pouch result is attained.

The manner of using the slingshot is thought to be selfevident and a more detailed description is thought to be unnecessary.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A slingshot comprising a one-piece stock embodying a handgrip having upper and lower ends and said upper end being provided with a complemental fork embodying a pair of companion arms and a crotch portion joining the respective lower end portions of said arms, a sling embodying a pair of duplicate elongated pull-responsive elastically stretchable tubes having forward and rearward ends, pellet pocketing and releasing means having end portions to which the respectively cooperable rearward ends of said tubes are operatively connected, said pellet-pocketing means comprising a flexible pliant strap which when doubled upon itself midway between its ends provides opposed coordinating half-portions defining a pouch in which a plurality of pellets can be collectively nested, grippingly held, and aimed at a target, the interior surfaces of said half-portions being equipped with fastening means, said strap being made of a length of pliant leather and said fastening means comprising tapes attached to said interior surfaces and arranged in coacting upper and lower paired face-to-face overlapping relationship, the oriented overlapping faces of said tapes being provided with male and female hook-and-loop fastening means.

2. The slingshot defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein said handgrip is provided with an axial bore normally closed at an upper end and open at a lower end, said bore providing a confining and storing magazine for a supply of ready-to-use pellets, birdshot for example, manually regulable closure means operatively mounted on said lower end and closing said magazine and an openable and closable pelletdischarging passage formed in said handgrip and communicable with said upper end.

3. A slingshot comprising a one-piece stock embodying a handgrip having upper and lower ends, said upper end having a substantially U-shaped fork embodying a pair of arms having lower ends joined by a crotch portion, said arms having free upper ends, said arms having vertically elongated open-ended passages, said handgrip being provided with an axial bore closed at an upper end and open at its lower end, said bore providing a magazine-type storage chamber for a supply of ready-to-use pellets, the upper end of said handgrip being provided on one side with an angled pellet-discharging passage having an inner open end communicating with said chamber adjacent the closed upper end of said chamber and an outer accessible open end, said passage serving to permit the user to discharge pellets from the storing chamber into the palm of his hand, said passage being provided with an insertable and removable normally closed closing plug, a manually controllable end closure for said lower end of said chamber and accessibly mounted on said lower end of said chamber and providing a readily operable closure for said lower end of said chamber, and a sling operatively cooperable with said fork, said sling comprising a pair of like pull-responsive elastically stretchable tubes having forward ends threaded through and removably anchored in their respectively open-ended passages, and having rearward ends operatively connected together by a flexible leather strap which is capable of being doubled and folded upon itself midway between its respective ends to provide opposed face-to-face half-portions, said halfportions providing a finger-held pouch in which a batch of projectable pellets can be collectively nested, temporarily held, and aimed at a given target preparatory to intentionally releasing and forcibly projecting said pellets toward said target the interior surfaces of said half-portions being equipped with male and female fasteners which not only achieve the pouch-forming and pellet-nesting and aiming step but come automatically into play to releasably shoot and scatter the pellets in a predetermined manner.

4. The slingshot defined in and according to claim 3 and wherein said fasteners comprise a first pair of upper and lower female tapes which are fixed to the interior surface of one half-portion located on one side of the fold line of said strap, and a second pair of upper and lower male tapes which are fixed to said interior surface of the other half-portion on the other side of said fold line.

5. The slingshot defined in according to claim 4, and wherein said tapes are situated adjacent to the upper and lower longitudinal edges of said strap, the female tapes being spaced apart, the male tapes being likewise spaced apart and said tapes being paired and aligned with each other in a manner to achieve said pouch-forming and pellet-nesting gathering step. 

1. A slingshot comprising a one-piece stock embodying a handgrip having upper and lower ends and said upper end being provided with a complemental fork embodying a pair of companion arms and a crotch portion joining the respective lower end portions of said arms, a sling embodying a pair of duplicate elongated pullresponsive elastically stretchable tubes having forward and rearward ends, pellet pocketing and releasing means having end portions to which the respectively cooperable rearward ends of said tubes are operatively connected, said pellet-pocketing means comprising a flexible pliant strap which when doubled upon itself midway between its ends provides opposed coordinating halfportions defining a pouch in which a plurality of pellets can be collectively nested, grippingly held, and aimed at a target, the interior surfaces of said half-portions being equipped with fastening means, said strap being made of a length of pliant leather and said fastening means comprising tapes attached to said interior surfaces and arranged in coacting upper and lower paired face-to-face overlapping relationship, the oriented overlapping faces of said tapes being provided with male and female hook-and-loop fastening means.
 2. The slingshot defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein said handgrip is provided with an axial bore normally closed at an upper end and open at a lower end, said bore providing a confining and storing magazine for a supply of ready-to-use pellets, birdshot for example, manually regulable closure means operatively mounted on said lower end and closing said magazine and an openable and closable pellet-discharging passage formed in said handgrip and communicaBle with said upper end.
 3. A slingshot comprising a one-piece stock embodying a handgrip having upper and lower ends, said upper end having a substantially U-shaped fork embodying a pair of arms having lower ends joined by a crotch portion, said arms having free upper ends, said arms having vertically elongated open-ended passages, said handgrip being provided with an axial bore closed at an upper end and open at its lower end, said bore providing a magazine-type storage chamber for a supply of ready-to-use pellets, the upper end of said handgrip being provided on one side with an angled pellet-discharging passage having an inner open end communicating with said chamber adjacent the closed upper end of said chamber and an outer accessible open end, said passage serving to permit the user to discharge pellets from the storing chamber into the palm of his hand, said passage being provided with an insertable and removable normally closed closing plug, a manually controllable end closure for said lower end of said chamber and accessibly mounted on said lower end of said chamber and providing a readily operable closure for said lower end of said chamber, and a sling operatively cooperable with said fork, said sling comprising a pair of like pull-responsive elastically stretchable tubes having forward ends threaded through and removably anchored in their respectively open-ended passages, and having rearward ends operatively connected together by a flexible leather strap which is capable of being doubled and folded upon itself midway between its respective ends to provide opposed face-to-face half-portions, said half-portions providing a finger-held pouch in which a batch of projectable pellets can be collectively nested, temporarily held, and aimed at a given target preparatory to intentionally releasing and forcibly projecting said pellets toward said target, the interior surfaces of said half-portions being equipped with male and female fasteners which not only achieve the pouch-forming and pellet-nesting and aiming step but come automatically into play to releasably shoot and scatter the pellets in a predetermined manner.
 4. The slingshot defined in and according to claim 3 and wherein said fasteners comprise a first pair of upper and lower female tapes which are fixed to the interior surface of one half-portion located on one side of the fold line of said strap, and a second pair of upper and lower male tapes which are fixed to said interior surface of the other half-portion on the other side of said fold line.
 5. The slingshot defined in according to claim 4, and wherein said tapes are situated adjacent to the upper and lower longitudinal edges of said strap, the female tapes being spaced apart, the male tapes being likewise spaced apart and said tapes being paired and aligned with each other in a manner to achieve said pouch-forming and pellet-nesting gathering step. 